George Matulaitis Journal

312 they want to own their land. There are hardly any industrial or urban workers in Lithuania. There may be some Communists among the Jews, the Bundists. 1 As for Lithuanian Communists, there are some young dreamers. But even these are not numerous.” He asked me if I thought that in Vilnius and the surrounding countryside the people would be up in arms against the Lithuanians if the League of Nations were to order ÷ eligowski’s army to withdraw and turn this territory over to the Lithuanians. I answered that in the villages they will not rise up because the common people are hostile to the Polish troops and perhaps even to Polish rule in general. They would much rather have the Lithuanians. The villagers want peace and quiet, law, and order. Once and for all, they want to live in peace and an end to their poverty and the wrongs and cruelties they suffer. As for the city of Vilnius, who will oppose the Lithuanians here? Not the Jews, nor the Russians, nor the Belorussians. The common people are hungry for bread, but also for jobs and for peace. Some troublemakers and agitators may emerge, but they are not dangerous. He also spoke about a federation. I said that the Lithuanians do not want one and that it cannot be imposed by force. Let them first divide up the land, establish law and order. Then the parliaments can determine relations with neighboring countries. March 29 The 25th of this month was the Belorussian national holiday—the third anniversary of the day when the nation’s representatives in Mi<sk proclaimed the independence of Belorussia. 2 They are celebrating today. 3 I found out that Father Stankievich preached a sermon in Belorussian during their Mass at the Church of the Bonifratres. After Mass they sang a Belorussian hymn: “O My God, I Believe in You.” 4 I had asked them not to give the sermon in Belorussian so as not to 1 From the German “Bund”: an association of Jewish workers that became a political party active in Lithuania, Poland, and Russia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 2 On March 25, 1918, the Belorussian National Council convened in Mi<sk and declared Belorussia an independent republic. They had no time to organize a working government before they were attacked and invaded by the Red Army. January 1, 1919, the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic was created, while the democratic government sought and received asylum in Kaunas. 3 Probably because March 25th fell on Good Friday that year. 4 In Belorussian the title was: O Mój Bo ? e, vieru Tobie.